Most Popular
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Qoo10 liquidity crisis sparks massive complaints, fears of wider damage
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Yoon urges municipalities to embrace foreigners
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What is happening at Hybe?
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S. Korea to consent to Japan's Sado mines gaining World Heritage status: official
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Korea unveils tax reform bill to spur economy
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Actor’s excessive airport security sparks probe into human rights violations
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Man who let his father die due to financial difficulties to be released on parole
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Actor Yoo Ah-in accused of sexual attack
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S. Korea, China shifting from tensions to cooperation: Seoul
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LG Electronics achieves record earnings in Q2
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Assembly back on track with agreement on committee chief assignments
The rival political parties got the newly launched session of the National Assembly back on track Thursday by officially agreeing on the selection of all 18 committee chiefs for the first two years of the parliamentary term. Twenty-eight days after the 22nd Assembly kicked off its term, the ruling People Power Party and the opposition parties voted in favor of the ruling party’s candidates for seven parliamentary committee chiefs, in a plenary session held in the afternoon. The Assembly me
June 27, 2024
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Seoul to expand science R&D budget
South Korea may propose a budget related to state-backed scientific research and development amounting to nearly 30 trillion won ($21.6 billion), according to the presidential office on Thursday. "The total amount of the state R&D budget could certainly reach 30 trillion won, but the final proposal will be handed in (to the Finance Ministry) in late August," Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, told reporters. Park revealed that what is included
June 27, 2024
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Yoon names chiefs of tax, fire, weather authorities
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday announced picks for four vice-ministerial officials including chiefs of the tax, fire and weather agencies, as well as first vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination amid reports that he might carry a major Cabinet reshuffle soon. Kang Min-soo, who heads the Seoul Regional Tax Office, was nominated as the new chief of the National Tax Agency. Kang, 56 is the only vice-ministerial official out of four named Thursday to go through the parli
June 27, 2024
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Yoon likely to keep PM amid reports of Cabinet reshuffle
President Yoon Suk Yeol is likely to retain Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to local reports over an imminent Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday. Prime Minister Han has served in his post since Yoon's inauguration over two years ago. Han has stayed in the post even after he offered his resignation following the ruling bloc's defeat in the April general elections. The Cabinet reshuffle "will unlikely take place before end-June, and will likely be done after mid-July," a sen
June 26, 2024
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South Korea plans overhaul of mental health policy
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday vowed an overhaul of the nation's mental health policy as he presided over the first meeting of a presidential committee dedicated to expanding state support and changing the general perception toward mental illness. The government will start injecting an expanded state budget to address people's mental health starting next year. According to a senior official from the presidential office who declined to be named, the state support package is estima
June 26, 2024
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Seoul littered with trash dropped by North Korean balloons
North Korea floated balloons filled with trash toward the South for the fifth time late Monday, on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the Korean War, which was June 25, 1950. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that as of Tuesday morning more than 350 trash balloons from North Korea had been identified, the majority of which fell in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province surrounding the capital city. So far, this latest batch of balloons appeared to contain mostly waste paper that was de
June 25, 2024
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Yoon condemns NK-Russia pact as 'step back in history'
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday denounced a pact signed between North Korea and Russia last week as "an anachronistic act" that goes against the progress of history and Pyongyang's repeated provocations as "despicable and irrational." During his televised speech to mark the 74th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, Yoon said the pact, which forges stronger military and economic cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, "blatantly violat
June 25, 2024
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Yoon visits site of battery plant fire that killed at least 22
President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the site of a battery plant fire that killed at least 22 people on Monday and ordered government officials to draw up measures to prevent similar accidents from occurring, his office said. Yoon decided to visit the plant run by lithium battery maker Aricell in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, to carry out an emergency inspection after being briefed on the fire by Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, according to his office. Yoon earlier instructed the minister a
June 24, 2024
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[Bills in Focus] Fair franchise practices, prevention of disinformation spread
Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Commercial Act Proposed by Rep. Jeong Jun-ho (Democratic Party of Korea) ● The existing law requires corporate directors to perform duties in good faith for the interest of the company but does not hold them liable for damages inflicted on specific shareholders if the overall corporate value remains the same. Therefore, this amendment aims to protect the interest and value of shareholders by adjusting the scope of directors’ duty of loyalty to includ
June 24, 2024
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[Korean War anniversary] Korea needs to plant a culture of honor, veterans chief says
Kang Jung-ai, South Korea’s minister of patriots and veterans affairs, says building a culture of remembering and honoring the people who fought for Koreans and their freedom is “what our country needs.” “Honoring veterans goes far beyond giving them compensation and benefits. Thanking and respecting the people who served our country should be a part of our national identity and treasured value,” she said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Friday. “Yes,
June 24, 2024
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Opposition ramps up calls for Yoon's impeachment
Opposition politicians are raising the possibility of impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol as they push for a bill to investigate his alleged meddling in the investigation of a soldier's death. Opposition parties, which hold a strong majority in South Korea's National Assembly, plan to reintroduce a bill to launch a special counsel probe of alleged interference in a Marine Corps internal investigation following the death of a Marine last summer. On Monday, Rep. Jang Kyung-tae, an outspok
June 24, 2024
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DP leader resigns as step to seeking 2nd term
Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Monday stepped down from his position as the party’s chair, a move that is viewed as a step towards running for a second term as the main opposition party's leader at the upcoming party convention. "I have resigned from my position as the chair of the Democratic Party with the wrap-up of today’s party supreme council meeting," Lee told reporters at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul. Lee expressed his concern
June 24, 2024
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Race begins for People Power Party leadership
The race to become the leader of the nation’s conservative ruling party kicked off Sunday, with three star politicians declaring their candidacies throughout the day. The announcements by former Justice Minister and onetime ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon, judge-turned-five-term lawmaker Rep. Na Kyung-won and former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong follow Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun’s declaration of candidacy on Friday. The race is expected to be a monthlong four-candidate battle with crossfire
June 23, 2024
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Former land, justice ministers to run for ruling party chief
Former Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong will announce his candidacy for the chairmanship of the ruling People Power Party on Sunday, Won's camp said Friday. "I have concluded that the party and the government must now work together in unison to bring about changes and reforms that fully support the public sentiment expressed through the general election," said Won. Earlier, Han Dong-hoon, who led the ruling People Power Party through the April election fo
June 21, 2024
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Seoul says weapon aid to Ukraine 'depends on Russia's reaction'
South Korea will map out plans to send weapons to Ukraine, depending on how Russia would react to Seoul's statement which hinted at a review of arms support in response to the development of Russia-North Korea relations on Thursday, according to the presidential office Friday. The office added that many options concerning the weapons aid to Ukraine could be taken into consideration and that South Korea will continue its "comprehensive support" to Ukraine. Seoul, however, denied th
June 21, 2024
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Seoul summons Russian ambassador over Kim-Putin talks
Seoul on Friday summoned Georgy Zinoviev, ambassador of Russia to South Korea, to express its discontent over the elevated ties between North Korea and Russia that would commit each other to provide military assistance in the event of armed aggression to the other. First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun summoned Zinoviev to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Seoul and explained Seoul's stance on the bilateral pact of North Korea and Russia signed Wednesday, according to the
June 21, 2024
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How will Kim-Putin summit affect China?
Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang on Wednesday to hold talks with his counterpart, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, will likely pose hurdles on China's diplomatic front regardless of the outcome of the meeting, according to reports and observers closely watching the rare encounter between the leaders of the two isolated regimes. Experts in Seoul, prior to the summit in North Korea, said that the talks between Putin and Kim would weaken China's influence on Nort
June 19, 2024
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Rival parties divided over Kim-Putin summit
South Korea’s political sphere on Wednesday was divided over Russian President Vladimir Putin's first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years, and with it the growing concerns of strengthened military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. The main opposition party leader and ex-unification ministers under previous liberal administrations called for a revival of the inter-Korean dialogue channel to safeguard peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. On the other hand, the ruling party s
June 19, 2024
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Sejong University signs agreement with Army to train cyber specialists
Sejong University signed a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Korea Army Headquarters to collaborate in online fields. The agreement aims to improve the acquisition rate of cyber specialists within the Army. This initiative follows the Ministry of National Defense's "Decision to Expand the Contracted Department of Military" in December 2023 to recruit experts in online fields. Sejong University's Department of Information Security was selected in March 2024 through an o
June 19, 2024
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Research center for Israel studies opens in Seoul
A research center dedicated to Israeli studies opened Tuesday under the Seoul National University, becoming the first such academic institution in South Korea. Amb. Akiva Tor, Israeli envoy to South Korea, said in an opening ceremony on this day that the center’s launch “marks an auspicious beginning.” Israel Education Research Center will be “the first academic center in Korean higher education dedicated to the study of Jewish civilization and Israeli society,” he
June 18, 2024